The illusion of control….
Debbie, I don’t think I’d frame the lack of control as a danger, more like a shift in attitude toward transparency that clients need to be educated on. I think the biggest danger for clients in social media is not being open to hearing negative feedback and also not doing the appropriate amount of research before engaging in the social media space. (Interesting article on the topic of criticism: http://www.searchengineguide.com/mack-collier/why-is-your-business-afraid-of-negative.php)
My question for people who think they are in control, what control do companies have in other types of PR? Companies can control putting out the best product possible, how they chose to lead the conversation about their product and how they respond to feedback, but definitely not people’s opinions. In my opinion, the sense of control is an illusion set up by familiarity with the traditional methods of PR. You can’t control what reporters write about your brand and you certainly can’t control what people say or think about your brand. As PR professionals, we certainly try to shape opinions and provide relevant information, but we can’t control it.
The internet has just brought to light what people were saying to each other all along through word of mouth that could not be captured in an easy, cost effective way. All the more reason to be paying attention, educating ourselves and trying to learn from social media, not being afraid of it.
Posted by: Sarah | March 26, 2009 at 09:39 AM
Thanks to Debbie and Sarah for commenting. In the spirit of full disclosure, Sarah used to work at THP before going on to bigger and things in DC with the American Red Cross and now with the social marketing arm of Ogilvy PR.
Sarah actually echoed some internal back and forth we at THP have had on this issue. The truth is PR practitioners never have “control” over future success. We sell off our past success and our contacts and relationships in the media world. We can never promise the same success we have had for other clients, but can promise that we know what works and can call on those relationships and our experience and see how it goes.
Control is an illusion. We have never promised it in the past, there is no reason to promise it now as our practice has expanded to these new online platforms. If a client or prospect is not comfortable with the lack of control, they are likely not ready to participate on those platforms.
Interesting comments from my last post on including social marketing in all of our conversations and proposals moving forward. Here are a few:
Moreover, I think that educating clients about the dangers of social media in terms of control or the lack thereof in some cases is paramount. People think that social media is a panacea for all their problems and that is often not the case.